Hot and Busy!

What a busy two weeks its been! Between the work I have done in Lexington, partnering with the "Fence Guy of Louisville" to help him get caught up, going part time at the hospital, starting a part time job at a small county EMS service and running a business. I must say, its been busy but I love the variety, the challenges have been stimulating and the people have been amazing. 

The most memorable moment in the past two weeks was this 6' tall privacy fence I built for a client. I used pressure treated pine for the pickets and had some unique challenges to work around, most notably a large tree branch that she will eventually have removed but needed a secure fence to keep her dogs in. I placed the fence to fit around this branch, built that section with screws so it can be removed and used a jig saw to make an opening to fit around the tree branch, allowing room for the branch to flex and move. 

Everything about this project went better than I had planned. I spaced the post to fit between trees as much as possible, reducing the number of roots needing to be cut. With some trial and error, adjustments  were made to the string used to layout this fence so that the middle and top 2x4 supports would fit around the large tree branch and allow the fence to fit under another branch. I had plenty of shade to work under during the heat wave and had a wonderful client. I hope this fence provides the privacy and security she was needing! 

Partnering with the Mike ("The Fence Guy of Louisville") has been a great opportunity to learn new skills and receive constructive criticism. Mike strongly advocates on appearance over numbers, meaning that if the spacing of a picket is exactly 2" then some posts will be seen when looking at the fence. Mike taught me to slowly make adjustments at 1/8" to 1/4" of an inch at a time to conceal each post while giving the appearance of perfect spacing. Mike takes this approach to everything when building his fences, he says that variances in spacing between pickets, posts and the top of the fence must be made gradually. He also possess an obsessive commit to quality, if a single post appears off, he will remove it and set a new post, even if it means delaying the project. 

---

One area of fence building I have been nervous about is cutting arches and scallops. I have simply not possessed enough practice to feel comfortable taking a saw blade to something I have worked so hard to construct. The only way to improve is to practice, here I am cutting scallops in a 4' spaced cedar picket fence. To have the scallops flow consistently requires first tracing a line using a flexible piece of trim work. Adjustments are then made and if a mistake occurs while cutting, you readjust back to the line slowly, not abruptly to keep the flow consistent and appearance fluid. 

I will finally conclude this rather lengthly update with that which truly matters. Life with those we love. As I learn and grow as an individual, I slowly learn, most often from my mistakes, that its the seemingly little and insignificant elements of life that we will one day reflect upon and esteem as the most precious. I have found a lot of happiness in working hard, learning a craft that I can apply my own artistic style to while running my own business. Ultimately, these fences will one day fall down, someone will come back and build atop of what I constructed and haul it away to the dump. So also will our children grow, our parents age as this present day fades away. What truly matters, I do believe, is not what we do with our careers insomuch as what we do with our hearts, our time, our love.  The most important career objective I have is to stay small enough to never detract from what truly matters!

This is what matters

Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains."
​-Henery David Thoreau